Looking: The Movie (2016)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

I loved the show; and I am thankful for the movie, simply for closure- but yes, the movie was very boring. It felt like a long flat episode. Wish it would have been epic.

Someone recommend me this movie, I am not a fan of gay films, I watch all kind of movies with open mind in order to increase the list of movies to improve myself as a critic. This is nothing compared with "Call me By Your Name", genuine, natural and emotional-arousing film. Looking is about a snob group of gays, some are abnormal abominable and "terrorists" of normal things. Genderless people that want to be kings? Give a me a break. What happened with HBO when it was serious? This "film" is BORING, OVERRATED, A BAD BAD VERSION OF QUEER AS FOLK, ALSO IS SHALLOW, UNINTYERESTING, FLAT AND CHEESY. Skip it at all cost.

If anyone bothered to watch the 'Looking' series before watching this movie they would realize that "Looking" was more about Patrick forever looking outward, rather than inward, to find himself. The 'Looking' series was smartly done to showcase Patrick and friends living in San Francisco as average modern day gay people troubled with personal needs and wants while juggling the demands of scratching out a comfortable life in a big city. Nothing remarkable nor outstanding happens in their lives. It's just daily life as the majority of civilization lives it.In "Looking: the movie" Patrick returns to Frisco to attend a wedding. We find out Patrick had moved back east and this is his first visit in years. He is ambivalent about this trip because he knows he is certain to cross the path of old flames and Patrick really doesn't want to bring those feelings back to the surface.As the story progresses mostly nothing happens (outside of a lot of drinking and eating) because everyone has gone onward with their life and they don't expect anything more from Patrick other to be their for the wedding. What appears as a simple non story is actually full of examples of human interaction with other humans and the misconceptions that come along with it. The story ends pretty much as it started - steps are taken forward but we forever find our-self in the same place.

Alright, the show was really nothing special. Everyone was freaking out over it because we finally got a gay show that didn't constantly shove the gay stereotypes down our throats (even though they are usually right?) but that really was all it had going. Honestly, I really hated most of the characters aside from Dom, Doris, and Richie. The protagonist was an idiot who kept making terrible choices. I honestly think the show must have had the worst team of writers for any HBO show that ever existed. Richie and Patrick were clearly right for each other, and it always felt incredibly far- fetched that a "goody two shoes," a "prude," someone who didn't like taking risks would have dumped Richie for Kevin. Sorry, but it just made no sense at all when taking into consideration Patrick's character.I really doubt a real-life person like him would have ever done that, and it really made me so incredibly angry when it happened. Honestly, don't expect anything special from the show or the movie. Pretty much nothing interesting happens, and the only reason anyone should ever watch it is because of the excellent acting and character development. I doubt a heterosexual person or someone who isn't even a fag hag to begin with would be particularly interested in this series. I only watched it because I liked that it felt like I was hanging out with them all. Unfortunately, though, most hangouts are not interesting enough for the big screen, and that was truly the downfall of this show. The writers of this show should have tried harder to make interesting events occur, and they pretty much just banked on the fact that the LGBT community will eat up anything with good acting that is targeted towards them. Most of the events felt far-fetched. Agustin's insanity didn't seem very realistic, and his "redemption" was even worse. The ending of this movie made me very happy, though so there is that. However, this movie that should have just been one 20-minute long episode was stretched out to compose a movie, and it really reflects. I didn't even have to really sit down and watch the movie the entire time. I was multi-tasking the whole time I watched it, and I didn't even miss anything. So, this is a really boring movie to top off a very, very, very boring series. I'm incredibly disappointed in HBO. I think they should have hired actual gay writers because this was just ridiculous. The only reason I'm giving it 3 stars is because of Doris. That woman was awesome.